


Afraid to Get Close

by Cocopops1995



Series: Friends Are Family [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: And He Knows It, Gen, Introspection, Keith (Voltron) Needs a Hug, Keith has issues, Reminiscing, day 6: distance/proximity, kind of, platonicvldweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2019-02-03 15:35:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12751170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cocopops1995/pseuds/Cocopops1995
Summary: Keith’s pretty sure it started when his mother left him, but he thinks it was after the fourth or fifth foster family gave up on him he really stopped allowing people to get close to him.





	Afraid to Get Close

Keith’s pretty sure it started when his mother left him, but he think’s it was after the fourth or fifth foster family gave up on him he really stopped allowing people to get close to him. He doesn’t think it was a conscious decision. Everyone he met seemed to give up on him, so he gave up on people in general, and put distance between himself and them. It hurt less that way. 

It was also lonelier.

He remembers nights, usually right after another foster family had given up on him, when the loneliness would constrict around his heart until he burst out crying from the sheer pain of it. He remembers crying himself to sleep those nights, and waking up the following mornings with red eyes and dried tear tracks on his face. After a night like that, he would draw further into himself, and put even more distance between himself and any new people he met. It hurt, but the pain of loneliness was less than the pain of being abandoned by people he was close to. At least, that’s what he told himself.

Then he met someone that didn’t give up on him.

When he was sixteen, the orphanage that he’d been in for two years straight decided to sign him and the other “problem children” up for a big brother program. And Keith was assigned to one Takashi Shirogane. 

The man seemed nice enough, but Keith didn’t expect much from him - he’d decide that Keith was too difficult to deal with and give up on him, just like everyone else. That was before Keith knew how stubborn and determined Shiro could be, though. 

To Keith’s surprise, Shiro never gave up. He worked hard to close the distance Keith had created. Shiro is kind and patient and, unlike anyone Keith had met since his father’s death, he didn’t leave. Little by little, Keith opened up, and before he knew it, the distance between him and Shiro had completely disappeared and Keith found that he’d gained a real big brother

Keith will forever be grateful to Shiro for becoming the first, and only, stable presence in his life at that time. But that didn’t mean that his distrust of people in general had disappeared. He still kept his distance from them as much as he could, much to Shiro’s dismay. Keith didn’t understand why Shiro wanted him to make more friends. He already had Shiro, he didn’t need any more. Shiro was more than enough for him. 

Then Shiro got chosen for the Kerberos mission and before he left, Shiro practically begged Keith to try to make at least one friend while he was away. Keith reluctantly agreed, and the proud, beaming smile Shiro gave him in response almost made it worth it. And Keith tried, he really did. He thinks he might have made some progress with the other two kids on his team. 

But then the devastating news about the Kerberos mission hits - the mission a failure, the entire crew presumed dead - and the Garrison has the audacity to blame Shiro for it! The words “pilot error” will forever leave a bitter taste in Keith’s mouth.

Things go downhill from there. The distance between him and his best friend (Shiro’s not dead. He refuses to believe otherwise.) is overwhelming. It becomes to much for him to bare and soon he gets kicked out of the Garrison. 

He ends up in a shack in the middle of the desert. The pain of loneliness is back, constricting around his heart and stealing all his breath away. He distracts himself from the pain by wandering the desert, following the strange energy that he senses there, and examining the carvings in the cave he finds where the energy is strongest.

Shiro proves himself again by coming back, just like he said he would, and the pain in Keith’s lessens considerably for the first time in that past year. Then things get crazy and Keith finds himself thrown together with three other people and two aliens. But Keith hasn’t had to deal with people in a long time, so he only allows them to get as close as they absolutely need to in order to form Voltron, but otherwise he keeps his distance.

He’s sure that Shiro’s disappointed in him for this, he dreads it even. But it doesn’t take Keith long to realise that the Shiro that came back is not the same Shiro that left. This new Shiro distances himself from everyone too. There’s even a small amount of distance between him and Keith now. It hurts, but Keith can’t hold it against him; Shiro has more than enough reason to want some distance. So Keith lets him have his distance, but he also makes sure that Shiro knows that he’s always close by whenever Shiro needs him.

Gradually that distance decreases until its practically non-existent again. In the process, Keith is surprised to find the distance between himself growing less and less every day as well. Keith supposes that there can’t really be much distance between people who share a mindlink on a regular basis, and who have to trust one another as much as they do. Soon that distance has all but disappeared too, and things go well for a time. 

Until they don’t. 

“I’m proud of you, Keith.” Shiro says late one night, many months later, as they sit together on the viewing deck, bathed in the light of a yellow sun that the Castle of Lions flies past. “You’ve exceeded every one of my expectations.”

Keith snorts in disbelief. “Yeah, right.” he says as he examines his Marmora knife, not even looking up at Shiro. Keith had failed Shiro in so many ways since he’d gone missing for the second time. He can’t see how Shiro can find anything to be proud of. 

Shiro reaches out and gently lifts Keith’s face with two fingers under his chin, forcing Keith to meet his gaze. 

“Keith,” he says, and Keith doesn’t think he’s ever heard such a serious tone in Shiro’s voice. “I. Am. Proud. Of. You. Look me in the eyes and tell me that I’m lying.” 

Keith does, and is frankly shocked to see naked sincerity in Shiro’s eyes, accompanied by the same burning pride Keith had seen in them when he beat Shiro’s record in the flight simulator at the Garrison on his second try.

“You did so well.” Shiro continues, “Despite everything that happened, you kept the team safe and alive, you found a way to help and protect Ryou, and you even managed to find and rescue me - again. There’s no way I could be disappointed in you. I’m so, so proud of you, Keith.” 

Keith is mortified to feel a tear slip down his cheek at Shiro’s words, but a warm feelings has risen in his chest - one that he never thought he’d feel again - and he doesn’t think he can stop the tears even if he tried. 

Shiro wipes the tears from Keith’s face with his thumb, and then his lips quirk up, “You even managed to make more than one friend!”

And Keith can only laugh, because of course Shiro would think of that too. Shiro chuckles as well and then throws his arm over Keith and pulls him in close.

As Keith wraps his arms around Shiro, he feels the distance that he himself had created - a distance he had mistakenly thought that Shiro wanted - dissolve until there’s nothing left. And he’s as sure as he’s ever been that nothing will ever be able to put any distance between them ever again.

**Author's Note:**

> Like my work? Please consider [buying me a coffee](https://ko-fi.com/W7W3KRCZ) :)


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